


In Our Corner of the World

by savvyliterate



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-20 22:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10672155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savvyliterate/pseuds/savvyliterate
Summary: Snippets from the life of a coffee addict and the diner owner who can't help but indulge her, or a collection of JavaJunkie drabbles and short stories.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A few weeks ago, I started reblogging some lists of story prompts on Tumblr, and I got quite a few requests for Luke/Lorelai stories. These are the results of most of those requests, and I'll add to them as I write more.

_Time of the Month_

Luke learned fairly quickly after starting to date Lorelai that she had painful monthly cramps. She spent whatever time she wasn't at work curled up on the couch. She managed to hide it in public, but at home, all bets were off.

He creeped into her house one of those days and leaned over the back of the couch to rub her back.

"Cuddle or leave," she moaned, hugging the heating pad to her stomach.

"So, that's a no to food?"

"What is it?"

"I made chicken noodle soup."

She managed a wan smile. "Then I can eat."

Lorelai managed to eat a bowl of the chicken noodle soup, and Luke could tell she was in a bad way because she failed to comment on the amount of vegetables he managed to sneak into it.

"Tell me what I can do to help," he said, arm wrapped around her waist as he led her to the stairs so she could lay down.

"Sing me to sleep?" she asked.

He scowled, and she laughed. "How about rubbing my back again?"

"I can do that." He rubbed circles in the small of her back as they walked into the bedroom.

* * *

_The Ex_

Lorelai didn't see Jason Stiles again until four years after the Dragonfly opened, and it was apparent that her current dating status hadn't made its way to him. Granted, things between her and Luke had been on, then off, then on, then exploded, then rebuilt, and was now firmly stuck back in the "on" position.

Jason was a bit behind the times.

She made a hasty retreat when she insisted yes, she was back together with her former fiancé, and they were happy. Really happy. But Jason appeared dubious, so Lorelai quickly wove her way through the people her mother wrangled into attending this benefit to Luke's side, where he was getting them more fortification in the form of alcohol. She grabbed his arm.

"That's my ex-boyfriend," she said, nodding toward Jason.

Luke stiffened, recognizing him.

"He doesn't believe we're back together."

He started to open his mouth, whether to either retort or rant, Lorelai wasn't sure. She hastily added, "Well kiss me so he can see."

Luke shot one fuming glare in Jason's direction, then complied. It also helped that Lorelai was tugging him down to her.

* * *

_The Project_

Every so often, Stars Hollow High cleared its archives of student projects it kept over the years.

During one of these purges, an interesting artifact fell into Lorelai's hands.

She had to go to the diner to show Luke right away..

"Hey, babe, look what I found," Lorelai announced, brandishing a lace-covered toddler-sized dress, clearly from the early 1980s. A nametag and a grade were pinned to the front.

Luke's jaw fell, then he jabbed his finger at the door. "GET THAT OUT OF THE DINER NOW!"

"Aw, Butch, but you did so well with your home ec project!"

* * *

_The Lock Screen_

Luke didn't want the stupid iPhone in the first place.

He was trying to turn off notifications and wound up going through settings. In the process, he ended up replacing the lock screen wallpaper entirely by accident, and he decided it wasn't worth the hassle to replace it. It's not like anyone ever looked at those things.

Lorelai accidentally scooped up the wrong phone one morning, and he found out when she sailed into the diner for lunch.

"I'm your lock screen?!" she led with, surprised.

He went beet red. "You weren't supposed to see that," he hissed and fled into the kitchen before anyone could tease him about it.

* * *

_Blackmail_

Lorelai's Adele CD had gone missing, but she wasn't quite sure where it had gone until she came home early to hear Paul Anka barking along to slightly off-key singing. When she realized who the singer was, she creeped through the living room. Fifteen seconds of video footage on her iPhone later, and she had enough blackmail material on Luke to last at least the next five years.

"Enjoy," she texted Rory and hit send just as Luke turned from the stove to see her.

He went pale. "How long have you been standing there?"

She smirked. "Long enough."


	2. Chapter 2

_The Idea_

They sat together with their grandchild, taking turns soothing the baby to sleep while allowing Rory to get some much-needed rest. Eventually, the baby wore itself out and they stood next to the crib, arms around each other's waist as they watched the child they loved so much sleep.

"We kind of just let the whole baby discussion drop for us, didn't we," Lorelai mused.

"I figured if you wanted to pursue it, you'd say something," Luke pointed out.

She chuckled. "Pot. Kettle. Black." They shared a grin born from experience and the ability to poke fun at themselves.

"Well, I had another thought about it. I wanted to ask but thought if I asked, you'd say no."

She saw the hurt in his eyes. "You don't know that."

"I know, I know." She hugged him harder and worried her lip. Then she plunged right in. "What do you think of fostering?"

* * *

_Delivery Service_

"Hi!"

"… Lorelai?"

"Yeah!"

"How'd you get this number?"

"Oh, wrote it down, figure it might come in handy one day. Which, today is your lucky day, because it has!"

"Lorelai, I'm hanging up now."

"No, wait, Luke! I just need to place a delivery order!"

"I don't do delivery. Try Al's."

"But Al's isn't you!"

"And I thank God every day for that."

"C'mon, please, please, please? I need a cheeseburger, so does Rory, and we're starving!"

"You have two feet, just walk over here."

"I can't exactly do that."

"Lorelai!"

"You see, I broke my leg doing yoga."

"You broke what?!"

"Don't worry, I'm OK!"

"I'll be right there."

"I thought you don't do delivery!"

He just hung up the phone and ran to throw two burgers together.

* * *

_The Fight_

The fight was utterly stupid: one of those little arguments you got into with your partner that escalated because of the silliest thing.

Now they were fuming at each other, gesturing and shouting at the top of their lungs because she was stubborn and he was stubborn, and both of them were determined to be the immovable object instead of the unstoppable force.

Lorelai finally threw up her hands. "Just come with me into the other room," she ordered, then didn't bother to wait for his reply.

But Luke was just done. "We're not going to talk about this now," he argued, following her to make his point, then drew to a halt at the birthday cake and presents waiting on the kitchen table. Shocked, he just stared at her.

She gave him a tired smile. "Happy birthday, babe."

* * *

_It Really Does Work_

He sneaked up behind her, hands skimming down her waist as he pulled her into him. His teeth sank into her earlobe as his fingers danced beneath the hem of her shirt to draw circles on her midriff. She arched back into him, ass pressing into him as he moaned into her ear.

"Your voice is sexy," she murmured.

"Your ass is sexy," he replied, a certain part of his body showing her how much he approved of said ass. One hand slipped down to the button of her jeans, and with a quick twist, he had it popped open and was sliding it beneath her underwear. "I keep telling you those jeans really work for you."

"And for you," she gasped before she lost the ability to think at all.

* * *

_Accidental Consumption_

Lorelai stumbled into the kitchen, following the siren's scent of freshly made coffee and what she hoped was a scantily clad partner. She sleepily grabbed the coffee pot, then squinted when she saw it was empty. But it wasn't empty like day-old-she-forgot-to-wash-it friendly. Clearly there had been coffee in there very recently. She could smell it, almost taste it.

She eyed her not-so-scantily-clad boyfriend suspiciously as he stood at the sink, drinking water as if his life depended on it.

"Where is my coffee?"

Luke stopped gulping down water and scowled. "Don't even start."

"Coffee existed in this once upon a time." She took a step close to him, sniffed his breath. "You _drank coffee!_ "

"It was an accident! TJ called, panicking because he accidentally put regular fuel in a diesel engine and wanted me to tell him how to drain it out. I was trying to get him to call AAA and grabbed the mug sitting out, thinking it was my tea … then I picked up your coffee by mistake."

"You drank coffee and I missed it!"

"Lorelai …"

"All I want is an apology," she sighed and kissed him, just to see what it was like having coffee on his tongue. But he'd drank enough water to where she couldn't taste it.

* * *

_Round Three_

"And they're at it again," Lane told Rory, blatantly ignoring the no cell phone rule largely because her boss was too busy yelling at her best friend's mother to notice.

"Subject matter?" Rory asked.

Lane hit the speaker button on the phone just in time for Lorelai to yell, "Don't yell at me like a child!"

Luke jabbed a finger at where a pair of shears were now lodged in the wall. "THEN DON'T THROW SCISSORS!"

"It was an accident!"

Lane turned off the speaker. "See?"

"Why did my mom throw scissors in the diner?"

"I really wasn't paying attention to that part."

Rory sighed. "I wish they would just shut up and kiss already."

"I do too, but can it wait another week? My turn in the town pool's then."


	3. Chapter 3

_Blanket Consent_

Luke woke to the feel of soft lips on his, and his body reacted before his brain could register that it was stupid early in the morning and that he didn't have to work. He threaded his fingers through disheveled, curly locks and pulled her into him as the kiss deepened.

"Why do you only kiss me when I'm sleeping?" he murmured sleepily.

"You know you want it, babe," Lorelai replied in a husky voice.

"That's not a problematic statement at all," he pointed out, but kissed her again.

"Considering that three days after we began sleeping together you confessed how much you enjoy being woken this way, I took it as blanket consent."

Luke gave her a lazy smile. "Not disputing that."

The kisses grew heated, and hands began to roam. "God, I want you," Lorelai whispered and pulled back to undo her pajama top.

It was the last thing he wanted to do, but Luke stilled her hands. "Your mother's in the next room," he reminded her. They were on their agreed trip to see Emily in Nantucket, and a more than week had already passed.

It had been a very long eight days for the two intimate-hungry newlyweds.

"I can be quiet," Lorelai pouted.

"You're not as quiet as you think you are," Luke pointed out.

"Oh? And who's the screamer in this relationship?"

"Pot. Kettle. Black," he punctuated.

With a sigh, Lorelai flopped back down by her husband's side. "We're still newlyweds. It's a crime to curb our sex life."

"We've been together 10 years. 13 if you count the first round."

Lorelai waved a hand. "2006 never happened, and besides, the sex clock restarts once you say 'I do.'"

Luke chuckled a little. "Your mother does have her time at the museum tomorrow."

Lorelai shot him a wicked grin, already mentally planning what exhibit she planned to throughly explore once her mother left the cottage.

* * *

_The Great Chili Fries Catastrophe of 2002_

"Is there a reason you're naked in my bed?"

Lorelai opened her eyes to find Luke looming over her, eyes studiously focused on the wall above the pathetic single bed that he clung to the way Richard Simmons stuck with his '80s hair and leg warmers.

"I haven't seen the vein pop out of your head lately, I thought I would see how long it would take to provoke it."

"Lorelai," Luke gritted.

"And there it is!" Pleased, Lorelai stuck a leg out from beneath the duvet to show off her jeans-clad leg. "You mean you didn't hear about the Great Chili Fries Catastrophe of 2002?"

"Why am I not surprised you were involved in that giant mess downstairs that caused Caesar to block off half the diner and Taylor to run around threatening to declare a disaster zone, and that 'the shenanigans in my business are directly affecting this town's reputation.'"

Luke reached for the duvet and tugged it, causing Lorelai to shriek and immediate cover her chest. "C'mon, you've gotta get out of here."

"No, give that back!" Lorelai scrabbled for the duvet with her free hand. "Quit it, or I'll bite!"

That vow made an illicit thrill go down the length of his spine, but he ignored it. He was using to ignoring thrills, tingles, and outright "situations" caused by one Lorelai Gilmore. Luke conceded the duvet for a moment as Lorelai swung her legs off the bed.

"I still don't get why you're naked up here."

"Not naked! Hello, nude bra! Jeans!" Lorelai plucked at the strap of said bra. "After Kirk managed to drop the entire plate of chili fries on me, Caesar insisted that I come up here and borrow a shirt so I wouldn't go home covered in chili, onions, and cheese, that you would insist on it. How should I know you chose today to get every flannel you own washed?" She reached for the flannel he had on. "Take it off."

"I'm not taking off my shirt!" Luke protested, knowing full well that any other time he would have offered it to Lorelai straight away. But coming upstairs to find her naked … ok, not-quite-so-naked but still in his bed … threw off his equilibrium to the point where rational sense also took a leap out the window.

Lorelai pursued in her quest for adequate clothing and started tugging at the cloth. "I fell asleep waiting for you. What were you doing, erecting the Great Wall of China?"

"Stop it, it tickles," Luke grumbled, realizing too late that he had just given Lorelai a very, very powerful weapon as her eyes widened, then narrowed with an unholy glee. He scurried away and began to undo the buttons of the flannel himself. "Fine, fine, I'll give you the shirt, then you're going home."

Lorelai slowly crossed the apartment, that unholy glee changing to outright mischief. "In a bit. I need to experiment."

Luke scurried behind the table, hoping it would be an effective barrier. Instead, it just trapped him against the sink. "Lorelai …"

"I just want to see how ticklish you are! You can scream if you want."

The plan his brain concocted wasn't exactly a good one, but Lorelai's fingers were within inches of his ribs, and Luke knew that if Lorelai made contact that he would either collapse from laughter, die from repressed desire, or both. He quickly whipped off the shirt and tossed it away. "There, fetch!"

Well, it did have the effect Luke intended. Lorelai drew to a halt. "Fetch?"

"Um …"

She arched an eyebrow. "Like a dog?"

"Not the best word choice," Luke admitted. He pointed at the shirt. "There it is. Wear shirt. Exit, stage left."

And he took the opening left by Lorelai gaping at him and fled before he did something insane like haul her back to his bed and undress her completely.


	4. Chapter 4

_The Hangover_

"Come on, Mom. Easy does it. We're almost there."

Rory carefully walked backwards, hands in her mother's as she carefully guided her toward their home away from home. The place of life, liberty, and damn good coffee. She pushed the door open with her butt, bells jangling softly as she backed into the diner.

"Too loud, too loud!" Lorelai whined, eyes closed as she stumbled over the threshold.

"There, there, I'll kill them as soon as we get some coffee into you," Rory soothed as she pulled Lorelai into the diner.

On the other side of the counter, Luke winced. Lorelai looked rougher than he'd ever seen her. Deep bags lined her eyes, and her hair hung in stringy clumps around her face. Lines of exhaustion were etched deep, and she wore a mismatched outfit of patchwork jeans and a faded pink tee with some sort of My Little Pony on it.

"Coffee, hurry," Rory begged, and he hesitated.

"I don't think she needs coffee."

"I need a new head," Lorelai moaned as Rory pushed her onto a stool. She promptly rested her head on the counter. "Please, Luke, surely you have a saw. Just hack it off and start all over."

He leaned on the counter. "You don't remember last night at all, do you?"

She cracked an eye open. "Why are you talking? Less talking and more grumpy coffee giver."

"I remember last night," he said, infusing his voice with an extra dose of cheer that made Rory giggle and Lorelai turn her head into the counter and groan. "I very clearly remember warning you not to be a taste tester for Miss Patty's new and improved Founder's Day punch. But did you listen?"

"I had half a cup," Lorelai whined.

"No, because you were all perky and Lorelai and volunteered."

_"_ _Half a cup, damn it."_

"Now, was that the half a cup you had at the town meeting or the giant glass from the pitcher Patty sent us home with so Rory could try it when her flight got in late last night?"

"It tasted like Kool Aid," Lorelai sighed.

"Of course, then there was what you did after you drank an entire glass of the stuff." Luke leaned in close so the words were for her ears alone. "I believe you said something to the tune of 'I know what I want, when I want it. So get over here.'"

Lorelai barely found the strength to raise her head. "And if you ever want that again any time soon, you will take pity on me and get me some coffee."

"So you _do_ remember last night."

"I'm just going to sit over here and ignore the two of you now," Rory announced, pulling out her phone so she could text Lane.

"We're not flirting, we're arguing," Lorelai retorted.

"Please, everyone in this town knows that your fighting is code for extended foreplay." Rory shuddered. "And I am officially out of this. I'm off to see Lane and the twins. Your turn now," she informed Luke and dashed out of the diner before she could be stopped.

Lorelai flinched as the bells jangled again with Rory's exit, convinced they were ringing extra loudly because her daughter was an evil, evil human being. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the diner around her. The smell of bacon wafted from the kitchen, and normally what would be delightful made her stomach twist.

She heard the soft thunk of a glass beside her head and a second one from a plate. She cracked open an eye to see a full glass of ginger ale and a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich sitting next to her, along with some pills.

"Drink the ginger ale, take the Advil, then see if you can manage that, then you can have the coffee," Luke instructed as he moved around the counter to help other customers.

Groaning, she took a sip of the soda and took the Advil. She stared into her drink, vowing to never touch Founder's Day punch again as she waited for medicine to take effect. Reluctantly, she took a bite of the sandwich. Then a second.

Ten minutes later, the sandwich and soda were both gone, and the Advil was starting to take effect. Lorelai fished in the pocket of her jeans and managed to find a ponytail holder. She finished securing her hair back as Luke swung back by to check on her.

"How're you feeling?"

"Like six elephants are sitting on my head."

"That's good. It was seven earlier."

She managed a shaky smile. "Thanks."

"Go upstairs and lay down if you need to."

"I think I'll do that. At least until it gets down to four elephants." Lorelai slid off the stool, pleased she could stand without the room spinning. She started toward the curtain, then snagged Luke's arm as he passed by her with dirty dishes.

"I remember," she murmured in his ear, "that you responded to that little come-on of mine with last night with, 'I'm yours, in every way you'll have me.'"

Luke didn't say anything, but his eyes flared with heat. "It's true," he told her, his voice warm and husky. If sex had a soundtrack, he would be the narrator.

"And then you fell asleep." Luke hastily kissed her forehead and fled into the kitchen before Lorelai could retaliate.


	5. Chapter 5

_The Tattoo_

The night of their first date, Lorelai nearly ground everything to a halt when she got a look at good look at Luke's naked chest and upper arms for the first time.

"Is that a tattoo?" she asked, tracing her fingers over the mark.

"No, it's a beauty mark," he deadpanned. He reached for her, but she danced off to the side so she could keep inspecting it.

"That is the most tattooish tattoo I have ever seen," Lorelai said, trying to suss out what it was. "What is it?"

"Not telling."

"Come on, please?"

Luke kissed her into silence, using talented fingers to distract her to the point where Lorelai forgot about the tattoo. Almost.

Strange how things had a habit of coming back to haunt him.

"I'm thinking of getting a tattoo," Rory said in the diner on a visit to Stars Hollow more than six years later. "I think I should get something to commemorate my 25th birthday."

"Coffee cup?" Lane asked, dandling one of the twins on her knee. The other sat in his stroller, gnawing on the corner of a children's book.

"That would be Mom," Rory replied as the bells jangled and Lorelai stumbled into the diner with her arms ladened with binders. "Coffee cup tattoo?"

"Sorry, I'm reserving that one for me," Lorelai replied and thumped the binders in front of Rory. "We can still get matching tattoos of something else."

"No, we agreed that matching tattoos would be for my 30th birthday. What are these?" Rory tapped the binders.

"Tattoo ideas. By the way, when you go to get your tattoo, make sure it's a day Kirk isn't working."

Rory and Lane shuddered. The twin on Lane's knee began to cry.

Luke walked out of the kitchen, drying his hands with a towel. "Kwan OK?"

"Lorelai scared him," Lane told him, patting Kwan's back. "She invoked Kirk."

Rory rested her arms on the table. "Luke, what tattoo should I get?"

"None. You don't need one of those things."

"Hypocrite," Lorelai muttered, and Luke shot her _a look_. "He has a tattoo," she informed the girls. "It's some weird blob, but it's there."

"Oh?" Intrigued, Rory straightened. "Can we see your blob?"

"I made the mistake once of thinking 'This can't get weirder' when it comes to anyone with the name Gilmore. Sorry." Luke pivoted and started back to the kitchen.

"Is it somewhere … you know?" Lane alluded.

"No! No, no, no, it's just up here." Lorelai patted to the upper part of her body. "You know how he is. All shy, not wanting to strut his stuff."

"I'm not deaf you know," came from the kitchen.

"What do you think it is?" Rory asked Lorelai.

"Ink blob. Or maybe it was some secret pact with Rachel, and she has a matching one on her thigh. You know, from when they joined a satanic cult."

"It has nothing to do with a satanic cult, jeez," came from the kitchen.

The women fell silent. "So," Rory began.

"It _is_ something to do with Rachel," Lane finished.

"You're wrong, and I'll prove it," came from the kitchen.

Luke never had a chance to prove it. Lorelai tracked down Rachel's number through Facebook and called her that night. She confirmed that he was right - the tattoo had nothing to do with Rachel. But it had everything to do with Crazy Carrie.


	6. Chapter 6

_Eloping_

Eloping sounded like a good idea. A very good idea. A wonderful idea.

Until they reached the inn where their impromptu wedding party decided to make their home base, only to find that the rooms had been double booked and they only had one room.

"There's only one bed," Lorelai said, aghast. Rory and April hovered just behind her.

Jess edged himself around Luke and threw himself on the bed, sprawling out. "Well, I don't know where the rest of you guys are sleeping, but I'm pretty comfortable here. Now, if you want to get me naked, you'll have to convince me it'll be worth my time."

"Off," Luke barked as April snickered.

Jess never knew who threw the first pillow.

* * *

_The Ticket_

Lorelai marched into the diner, her prize held aloft.

"Oh, where did you find it, sweetie?" Miss Patty asked.

"I found it in the recycling bin." She marched over to the counter and set Luke's cell phone in front of him. "Now, what do we say?"

"Get rid of that thing."

"That's not what we say." Lorelai spun around on her stool as he snatched a plate and walked around the counter to deliver it. "We say thank you to your kind, pretty, and benevolent girlfriend, who rescued your phone after you pitched a fit because Taylor had you cited for talking on your cell phone while in the truck. First person in Stars Hollow to be ticketed for distracted driving!"

He marched back past her. "You are having way too much fun with this."

"What's next in Luke Danes' life of crime? Talking in the quiet car on Amtrak?"

He pointed at her. "Shut it."

Lorelai just grinned. Not a chance in hell.

* * *

_Flaunting_

"You had no idea how horrifying it was for me to just walk in on the two of you like that!" Lorelai smacked Luke's arm as they argued in the hall of the Independence Inn, minutes after her botched turndown. "You wanted me to walk in on you!"

"I wanted no such thing! You're the one who invited me, I wanted to help you out."

"By flaunting your girlfriend in front of me? I could do with a little less help there, Butch."

"You have no room to talk," he hissed. "Do I have to remind you who taught you how to fish for another man?"

"What, are you jealous?"

"Unbelievable," he sputtered and started back in the room.

"We're not done fighting!"

He whipped back around. "Yes, we are!"

And before she could argue once again, his lips were on hers and her back was against the wall. Then it was all heat and need, and when he pulled away, it was all she could do to stand.

The door closing behind him sounded like a gunshot.


End file.
